Kia kick-off Soul EV production

Production of the new Kia Soul EV is now underway.

The all-electric contender, which goes on sale later in 2014 and is Kia’s first EV to be marketed outside of Korea, is being manufactured for export at the company’s Gwangju facility.

Annual output of the car – which offers a class-leading drive range of 212km – is initially planned to reach 5,000 units.

Thomas Oh, Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said: “Now that production of export models has begun, the new Soul EV is truly at the forefront of Kia’s ‘Clean Mobility’ program, providing environmentally-friendly transport to our customers around the world.

“Although it is Kia’s first globally-sold all-electric vehicle, the Soul EV is our second-generation battery electric vehicle and benefits significantly from our in-depth experience gained from development of the Ray EV and proven daily operations of the Ray EV fleet in Korea for the past three years.”

The Kia Soul EV embodies the design language of the second-generation Soul which went on sale in April.

Power comes from an 81.4kW electric motor, producing 285Nm of torque and capable of propelling the vehicle from 0-62mph in 11.2seconds.

Top speed is around 90mph.

Charging is accomplished by plugging the Soul EV into any standard household electricity supply.

Recharging times are up to five hours for a fully-depleted battery using a 6.6kW AC slow charger.

An 80% charge can be achieved in 25minutes with a 100kW charger or 33minutes using a 50kW DC charger.